Thursday, September 12, 2013

Orchids:
Hallo Ian, Thank you for talking to SLE. You have an active interest in helping
people who have depression. We understand this has been a very personal fight
for you. Can you tell us about your struggle?

Ian:
First I want to say that I have been through depression myself. I lost
everything, my marriage, my dream home, my job, my life savings, and very
nearly my life through severe clinical depression. One of the problems of
trying to help someone overcome depression is that we often don't realize what
is happening to us. The average person has no frame of reference to understand
exactly why they are feeling so bad, what often makes things worse is that people
around them don't always understand how to support someone with depression.

The stories of depression are heart-rending. Each is as
unique as the individuals concerned, it is an incredibly personalized
experience.

Of course, some people are not around to give us their
story, and that is perhaps the most tragic loss of all.

Orchids:
What is the need to understand the mechanism of depression?

Ian: If
you don't understand depression is an illness you may not even necessarily know
that what you are experiencing can be described as symptoms. As people describe
that they are stressed by various things and feel hopeless or useless or that
the world would be better off without them these are actually symptomatic of a
clinically recognized condition, and sometimes caused by a temporary imbalance
in the brain. However, proving that is not so easy with a living human brain and
there are actually no tests to determine hormone levels within the brain.

Doctors often use assessment quizzes which are designed
to get some kind of measure of the subjective feelings of the patient to
determine the severity of the illness. These might include questions regarding
whether mood has been low or how often people might be thinking about suicide.

Based on this scoring system the Doctory then has a more
objective way to evaluate the severity of depression.

Solutions might include recommending antidepressants and
perhaps counseling. Modern thinking is to use a combined approach.

Antidepressants actually target a specific brain hormone
called serotonin to attempt to boost levels of this because it not only affects
mood, indeed is often called the "Happy Hormone", but it might
regulate the brain too and keeps it in balance.

With low levels of serotonin several things happen. One
part of the brain can physically shrink or atrophy, while due to stress
hormones another can expand or become swollen. These two organs have a profound
effect on our mind. Apparently the natural and ongoing process of producing new
brain cells can be interrupted or even halted and antidepressants are reputed
to be helpful in kick-starting this process.

Another important change is that the body needs serotonin
to produce the sleep hormone melatonin so our sleep cycles are affected too and
further exhaust us.

When that first part of the brain, called the hippocampus
shrinks it induces the symptoms of persistently low moods. Loss of interest in
normal things, fatigue, and sometimes loss of appetite or a tendency to over
eat. However that could also be due to other problems.

The Second Part of the brain which swells up is called
the Amygdale and it is a primitive part of the brain associated with our fight
or flight reflex. It actually has a job to remind us of mistakes we have made
too, and this is a survival mechanism - the trouble is when this is swollen it
causes extreme negative thinking.

"I have let everyone down"

"I am useless"

"I would be better off dead"

It is basically overloading you with anxiety due to
stress hormones, which is very probably because of stressful events in your
life, such as divorce, job loss, homelessness, bereavement, trauma, shock, etc.

Now psychologists recognize this barrage of self-critical
thinking as "The Voice of Depression" and try to teach people to
learn to recognize it for what it is. False or invalid thoughts. These are not
necessarily true.

Sometimes it takes a while for patients to understand
this. Now by increasing levels of serotonin the brain can supposedly rebalance
itself, the amygdale and hippocampus return to normal size, mood improves, the
negative thoughts go away we start producing new brain cells again. It takes
between six to twelve weeks apparently.

Okay, so let's quickly recap.

Depression sufferers don't always know what is happening
to them.

Doctors use techniques to evaluate patients for symptoms.

Symptoms have a cause - a physical cause due to a
possible temporary imbalance in the brain.

Now the key to overcoming depression is to understand the
solution to the problems, not just in learning to recognize the voice of
depression and stop beating themselves up but understanding what else to do
about it to improve the situation.

I believe the key is to learn that some things are
helpful to sufferers and some things are unhelpful. The likelihood is that most
people don't even know what is good for them and what is bad for them.
Ironically people will often turn to some of these negative things when they
are ill and also neglect to do the good things that can help them.

Surprisingly the negative things are those we might tend
to lean on to get through times of stress, anxiety or depression but they are
only making things worse by increasing stress hormones artificially. These
include Alcohol, Caffeine, Sugar and Smoking. All of which deplete vital nutrients.
If one doesn't get you the other one will. Between them these are the four main
things which actively deplete nutrients the brain needs to sustain a good
balance of hormones.

Orchids:
Tell us how SL has influenced you.

Ian: My
RL name is Ian; I have two alternative avatars in Second Life, Albion and Eon.

Since I first logged into Second Life some seven years
ago and found myself rezzed stark nekkid in the middle of the old Orientation
Island and actually felt embarrassed I knew this was going to be an interesting
experience if a 'game' could impact a person on an emotional level so unexpectedly.

I have learned a lot in Second Life and often joke that I
am the Grid's oldest Noob as there always seems to be something new to learn.

I had a lot of fun and met a lot of really great people
and have a few long-term friends from those early days. We have been through a
lot together both in Second Life and in Real Life.

One of the things that happened in my own real world was
that I underwent a series of extremely stressful events in my life. I was
signed off work with stress, but also had stress in my domestic life too, it
wasn't much fun, but on top of that someone set fire to my house by accident
and then a good friend of mine died. There is more to the sorry tale, but I
ended up being mentally burned out and diagnosed with severe clinical
depression.

Largely depression is temporary if you treat it right and
I did get better. I had some support from in-world friends at the time and it
was a great escape for me just to log in and get away from real life stresses.
I would just hang out and chat and have a laugh, or build something. It all
helped take my mind off my worries.

I even joined a survey conducted by a big electronics
firm in second life and they rewarded us with some money and Amazon vouchers,
so I got myself a decent camera. That helped too, because, although I was very
isolated socially in the real world at the time I would go for walks and take photos
of things I had seen and upload them to share with friends in-world and I kind
of felt that I had some interaction. I even went to places to show to one
friend who always encouraged me, so I sort of felt like I was showing her
around my real world and had some virtual 'company' on my walks.

Orchids:
This was the time when the photography bug got to you?

Ian: I
always like shooting photographs, but this was my decent camera and of course
then I got into that crazy thing of photographing things for textures and that
often found me photographing the strangest things - like a brick wall, or
trees, or even one time a box of tiles in a furniture warehouse, they must have
thought I was mad, but they made great flooring and pillars for SL builds.

I think one of my favorites was a Rose Archway I made for
my friend Firey at Lost Eden. It took me ages to edit the originals to make a transparency,
but looks great in SL now.

Orchids:
So you learned how to beat depression, how else did Second Life help?

Ian: Once
I got better I decided I would look into depression and try to figure out what
went wrong with my brain - and soon found out some incredible facts that actually
got me researching into depression and the brain for about a year on and off.

The thing is I found out some seriously beneficial ways
to handle the situation. Not just working within the realm of the mind and
changing thinking or attitudes, but actually working with the body to give it
the building blocks to heal the physical brain.

It turns out several things happen when we run short of
one hormone, called the happy hormone and the brain can physically change, this
is in fact reversible if you know how to encourage your body's innate ability
to repair and rebalance itself.

When I worked all this out I decided I should try to
share this with other sufferers, so I decided to write a book. It took me a
further two years of research to verify the facts and not unleash false hope or
dubious information upon a needy world.

A Second Life Friend who is also a journalist in real
life told me way back then that writing and publishing a book was not as easy
as I might think. She was right, but I persisted and she actually sent me a
huge bouquet of flowers when I finally published.

I figured out how to do it all myself, writing, editing,
proof-reading, and copyrighting and converting to ePub format for e-books, as
well as publishing a paperback through a print on demand service.
Coincidentally there have been some fresh developments in treatment guidelines which
meant my book needed to be completely revised, so I have withdrawn it till I
can catch up.

When I was writing the book I used Second Life as a 3D modeling
studio, setting up scenarios and props to illustrate some points and add a bit
of humour too. Then I would snapshot the scene and put these images into my
book to break up the narrative and add some humour.

One of these illustrations I did not build as a set
myself, it was the memorial at the survivors of suicide place. It just broke my
heart when I found it. There were perhaps several hundred candles lit for
people who either had taken their own lives or had tried.

Orchids:
Any other ways that SL influenced you?

Ian:
Right now I am doing the same thing, trying to help people understand
depression and how to beat it, but also working on some videos with some Second
Life "machinima" animations.

I still hang out on several mental health support groups
in Second Life and try to help as and when I can. It is heart-rending sometimes
to hear someone talk about depression knowing they don't always understand what
to do or how to deal with it.

I am not trained as a counselor, but I do what I can in
group chats.

Meanwhile I set out to revised my original book and found
fresh material which I find can be helpful to people. Really it is all about
stress causing an imbalance in the brain and then understanding how to
encourage the body to produce happy hormones through providing the building blocks
it needs to self-regulate. That is basically getting good nutrition and taking
exercise.

Image 12

Image 13

You are what you eat - so don't eat crap.

There are things that are particularly bad for depression
and make it worse, or prolong the misery, such as the four I mentioned earlier;
Caffeine, Alcohol, Sugar and Smoking, but there are also many things one can
learn to do to help one's self get better. Exercise is surprisingly helpful -
even though you may not feel like it. Counseling can be of tremendous benefit -
and, of course, see your doctor, but educate yourself as to your options and
watch out for side effects.

Orchids:
Ian is a Multi-talented RL and SL Avi. You are a poet too we hear …

Ian:
Yes, I like to write and often pen the odd poem. I have a fondness for
humourous rhymes, like this one I made up about relationships in Second Life.

I called it "My Cyber Love"

Thanks to my PC

My true love came for me

and saved me from Hell in RL

Well, we friended in June

'neath a blue-textured Moon

After sharing IM's in SL

She TeePeed when I called,

and the two of us Lol'd

and wandered of to our own sim

where we rezzed by the sea

I watched from my PC

and we hugged on our favorite prim

in sweet anticipation

I played a sex animation

until she went off afk

but we exchanged tickles

and then we bumped pixels

and cyber-loved in the new-fashioned
way

We would dance until dawn

while the sound stream played on

enjoying a virtual drink

and keeping the beat

with our virtual feet

and occasionally having to sync

I lavished on her

many gifts (and a bear)

and each day I wrote a notecard

and thanks to my software

I sometimes saw her bare

and always she kept my ware hard.

Well, so it went on

from different time zones

as we met in our virtual world

just an average boy

with his virtual toy

and a sweet special virtual girl.

We had shared inventory

and many a story

and many adventures we'd had

Knew each other so well

shared much time in SL

even though it might seem slightly
mad.

Then one day we agreed

that we really should meet

and we both txt'd out our new plan

This had gone on so long

that we couldn't go wrong

we should meet up as woman and man.

We used the internet

Travel tickets to get

and selected a convenient location

where we hoped to meet

where RL would be sweet

and share a romantic vacation.

we arrived in two cabs

but - just like Linden Labs

That's when the two of us crashed

As we both lay dying

and weeping and crying

first and second lives past our eyes
flashed

Virtually dead we both lay

till they took us away

to a hospital that was quite near

it was experimental

and the owner was mental

and came up with this crazy idea

Though our bodies were trashed

in the terrible crash

in jars he could keep us alive

though our bodies were gone

our brains could live on

and thus we could maybe survive.

He put our brains in jars

linked to lots of wires

so that was our fate and our future

The mad genius conspired

and we were hard-wired

each of us into a computer

Till one day we found

that we were not bound

by the limits of mere mortal men

though our options were fewer

we found an SL viewer

and then we were linked up once again!

So now we are free

my true love and me

to wander once more hand in hand

though our bodies are gone

our minds they live on

together in that virtual land

There's no need to log off

we're forever in love

My virtual true love and I

though our brains are in jars

we sit below virtual stars

and make Love under Linden's blue sky.

This story's not sad

(though it’s totally mad)

We're so happy in our virtual chaos

we can txt and IM

and dance once again

and share lots of ROLFMAO's

I rezzed her a ring

and we did that thing

of marrying there in SL

our friends TP'd in too

with gifts old, new - and blue

and we're planning a baby as well.

We've a comfy amount

of lindens on account

and a beautiful sim by the sea

and we build and we play

24 hours a day

My Virtual True Love and me.

Orchids:
Ian, do you have plans in the future to make a part 2 of a book on depression?

Ian: I
may, but frankly the new scientific developments have really changed the field
of play and the entire book needs to be completely rewritten. The good news is
that I expect in the long term we will see radically new ways of treating
depression, the bad news is I have had to withdraw my book for the foreseeable
future. It took me a year to get the concept, a further two years of research
and writing and another year to revise it. I honestly couldn't say how long a
total rewrite might take, but I can't commit the time and expense to support
myself further at this stage. Sadly I have to walk away from it and get on with
other projects. That is the cost if you wish to be an honest researcher; you
have to humbly accept new developments and be prepared to revise your work. I
am just one guy trying to fight this and I am afraid I must cut my losses.